This is last minute notice, but for original punk rock fans the Experience Music Project tonight is hosting the reading of three really great writers from that musical genre in their JBL Theater (starts at 7pm and it's free!).

Cheetah Chrome of the Dead Boys will be reading from one of my favorite books of last year, A Dead Boy's Tale From The Front Lines of Punk Rock. Chrome was a reckless renegade on the emergent margins of the Ohio-into-NYC first wave punk scene back in the 70s, and it was against all odds that he would come up with one of the most readable, empathetic, and clever summations of the period and lifestyle.

Also on board tonight is The Pagans' own Mike Hudson, whose Diary Of A Punk is also one of the very best North American punk memoirs I've read, and I regret I've never been able to do a more extensive write up on it. The Pagans are one of those truly underground rock bands your raw power heroes have plenty of vinyl classics from, even if you may not have heard them yet. Like Chrome's autobiography, Diary doesn't flinch from the crime, grime, gashes, grit, and spit of the daily life of OG punk rockers setting a bonfire out in the heartland. Trust me, you'd much rather hear their (vividly told) tales than another spoken word performance/comedy set/political harangue by Henry Rollins or Jello Biafra (no offense, but this is truly a special night).

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